Apparatus for treating emulsified oil



Sept. 1, 1931. F. c. BAKER ET A].

v APPARATUS FOR TREATING EMULSIFIED OIL Filed Nov. 16, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 1, 1931. F. c. BAKER ET AL APPARATUS FOR TREATINGEMULSIFIED OIL Filed Nov. 16, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 1,1931 21 AWN easier:

BAKER, "ROGER- 3. ELEGK'ENSTEIN, ANZD TM. IANDMAN, \OF 'EEOFRFD *VFQRTH,.I. EX='A*-S, ASSIGNORS TEXAS Z iPiACIFIC LCOAL :OI'L -1COM-PANY 013'FORT? WORTH, TEXAS, A CQRPQRAHFION 6F TEXAS 7' mmmmwszson inn-EmmaZEMUliSI-EIED 0.1-1.

pplieation med; November 16, .1327; ,Sgltial 3-116. 233, 99.

This invention relates to ja 'treatingsys- The primary object ofthe-iinventie i t provide .an apparatus for Qheat'ftreatmg such .011onjits way from thewel'lsfitostorage, and

lforraisinglthe 'temperatureof the oilwithout employing Clive steam r.coils "heated steam fitem fbdilers. [This makes the system especiallyuseful in 'thosef'jfields where there is ascarcity-or very pmoorguality'of water. for the boilers, and as amatter of fact,"t he newsystem eliminates (the use ofkboilers.

A -turtheriojbjectis tQ separateitrom crude oil, "the water, paraifin,asphalt.- and bottom sediment, so asto raisethegravity and make such oila more valuable product.

A still further object is to furnish a system in which the oil will flowby gravity through the heating unit or coil which is directly heated byhydrocarbon burners or the like; such heating raising the temperature ofthe oil to a point less than 212 F., and preferably to about 140 F. Theoil thus heated is fed into a settling tank to permit the water, etc.,to separate from the oil by stratification, the oil flowing from the topof the settling tank into suitable storage tanks where it is allowed tosettle.

A further object is to furnish a heater for such system, of novel andsimple construction, which may be inexpensively manufactured, and is ofdurable construction.

With the foregoing objects outlined, and with other objects in viewwhich will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists inthe novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved system.

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged perspective and vertical sectional viewsrespectively of the heater forming part of such system.

Fig.4 is an elevation, partly in section of a detail.

'In the drawings, 1 designates a flow tank be observed thatthe pipe 3 isconnected to "toiwhti'chthe emulsified crude oil orthe'like being:produced at the '.well, flows through fa-leadfline 2. This tank will,o-ficourse, be of proper'capacityfto take care of the amount e h d bythe lease owner.

Erom theiffl'ow-tanlr, t'he oil flowsiby gravity through th'ejline 3,which is provided :w i th a gate valve .or the like 5L. As it is desiredin the present system to -render the o peration' as "cheap :as possible,a static'ihead 1 of l oil "in the flow tank is employed -for circulationpurposes, instead of :a pump, and to insure that this *statidhea-d isalways suflircientftofflow'the oil-through rthe system, a {float svalve5 isarranged in the .flow' tank .at ftheiifilet end ofthe QpipeB. Due tothis valve, "theo'il'is cut' ofifrom the pipe?) when an in- "sufiicientstatic head is present in the flow ftanktoptakecare jofthecircu'lati'on. "It will '-flowtank"below'-the top of the 'latter, so'as to allow forthestatichead. A

y The {line 3.:is sufiiliently large to handle :"the fluid f produced,and the fluid. flows from F'thisflineinto La heater' 6,"the details ofwhich described later on. A Check valve"7, Jopeningtoward the heater;"isi arrangedin the lin'ef3, and a :union 7a is provided at the'end ofthis linefor attachment "'to the inlet of the heater. The .check valveis shown in detail in Fig.4.

the oil gflows. through the heater, its "temperature is raised, butpreferably not fabove 1:401? F land "the heated oil flows wthroughaninsulated' pipe "9 .to a separating tank 1o,--where the water andthelike, due wto'the heatitre'atment, separate from the oil,

the oil passing on through a linell into .the

'storage'tanksim and'13.

' 'The'pipe '9 has ac'heck valve '14, similar to thevalve L7 ,'butopening toward the separat- "in'gtank,'andgate'valve 15 is also providedon the p'i-pet). A union 16iS employed inconnect'ing the pipe '9 to {theseparating tank;

The latter has 'a-gauge glass 17 to permit "the operator to observetheheight of the wa- -ter, -etc;, and this water may be drained off*through a conduit 18,

1 The hea-ter G forms an important part of the invention, as it isespecially designed to heat the oil without the use of steam, as the oilflows through the heater. This heater preferably consists of a housing19 of concrete or brick construction, having a chimney 19a, and thishousing contains the coil 20 through which the oil flows. The coil ismade of pipes of sufficient size, and the individual loops arerectangular in form. The coil consists of a seriesof tiers. 21, eachsuperposed, one of which is projected inward the width of its owndiameter, so as to allow heat from below to envelope all-parts of theheater. The coils are spaced slightly in the vertical direction, andhollow supports, such as pipes 23, extend through these spaces tosupport the coils, and each vpipe has its ends extending through holesin the Wall of the housing, so as to allow'cold air to pass through andprevent the supports from sagging. The entire, heater may be elevatedsufficiently by mounting the same on lengths of casing 23a, to permit aburner 24 to be placed, beneath the coil, and such burner is preferablythermostatically controlled, so as to prevent the oil from being heatedmuch above 140 F. v p

.l/Ve have found from actual practice, that when crude oil, admixed withwater, parafin,

asphalt and bottom sediment, is passed through this system, the low heattreatment causes the elements to stratify without the .production ofgas, and consequently, we are 'able, by the use of our apparatus, tomake a v crude oil salable without the necessity of using steam forheat, and compressors for recovering ga'sesj Those skilledin the artwill readily unwhich the heating coil is of pyramidal form and consistsof a series of tiers of said loops, the tiers gradually decreasing insize from the bottom to the top of the coil, a housing enclosing thecoil, and hollow horizontally arranged supports carried by" the wall andsupporting said loops, the ends of the supports being located outsidethewalland being opened to permit atmosphericcooling of the pp ts-2 V, 1r f 3. In an oil separating device, the combination of a-source ofsupply and of a pipe line connected therewith, for conducting oil to aheating unit,'a heating unit, a coil of pyramidal formlocated therein,said coil consisting of a seriesof tiers ofloops of difierent sizes,graduated sothat the largest loop is on the bottom, with means forseparating,

spacing and supporting the adjacent tiers of loops from each other, saidsupporting means 1 running transverse of the longest dimension of eachloop of the coil, and extending outside of the heating unit, with meansforplaying the products of combustion on jthe coil and its supportingmeans to heat the oil contained within the coil.

In witness whereof we have aflixed oursi natures this 17 day, of Oct.,1927;

- FRANK C. BAKER. V

ROGER J. FLECKENSTEIN.

LESTER LANDMAN.

derstand fromthe foregoing description, the

the way in which to voperate the system, and

manner of constructingour apparatus, and

we areawarethat changesmay be made in the details disclosed withoutdeparting. from Q the subject matter claimed;

ters Patentis:

l/Vhat we claim and desire to secure by L etline under hydrostaticpressure, a heating coil of pyramidal form, formed by a series ofhorizontal loops of different sizes arranged in tiers, said coil beingoperatively connected I to the line and arranged to permit the oil toflow, therethrough under such hydrostatic Q pressure, means arrangedexteriorlyrof the coil for applying heated gases-directly to said coil,a separating tank, a pipe connecting the V coil to the separating tank,a conduitfor discharging oilfrom the upper portion of -the separatingtank, and another conduit for discharging water from the lowerportion ofthe separating tank.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in I ile

